by Chap Petersen

A great advantage of being out of power is that you can speak honestly about what’s going on — and not care who’s offended.

Abigail Spanberger served in Congress and ran for Governor as a moderate Democrat, standing apart from the AOC-Mandani socialist wing. By running on that brand (and largely avoiding actual issues), she won with 57% of the vote.

Then the 2026 session convened with Democrats holding all levers of power — and Spanberger was faced with a constitutional measure designed to “temporarily” dilute the votes of rural Virginians. Based on money and demographics, the referendum was sure to pass — and just as sure to enrage the 48.5% who were being politically erased.

So much for bipartisanship.  Predictably, her popularity dropped.

At that point, the Governor had two options:  pull a “Northam” and simply sign every Democratic bill or actually govern like a leader. Thankfully she (mostly) chose the latter.

In the past two weeks, the Governor has vetoed multiple flawed bills which passed on a party-line vote: creating a retail marijuana market, mandating collective bargaining for local governments, and making “menopause” a protected category under the VA Human Rights Act (yes, really).

Of course, the Governor did not get them all right: she allowed the usual slew of anti-Second Amendment bills along with a “paid leave” bill which is delayed until 2028, so voters won’t learn until after the next Assembly election that they’re taking home less pay — so others can get 12 weeks of paid time off.

The bottom line is not that the Governor got everything right … it’s that she did her own thing. Good for her.

Our leadership (not our nation) is divided into Trump loyalists on the “R” side and left-wing purists on the “D” side. Very few with courage. Look no further than Seattle or San Francisco to see what happens when one-party control becomes the rule. People leave.

Four years is a surprisingly short time, but I think the Governor let folks know that she’s still the boss.

And that’s ok.

Former state Senator Chap Petersen is a Northern Virginia attorney. This column has been republished with permission from his The Virginia Attorney newsletter.